Lavender Town Syndrome: Gameshow
by AkiraFox
Summary: Andrew Parker is set to star in the reboot of his childhood favourite game show. But when he gets there, it doesn't all run smoothly..


**Saturday 2nd May 2007**

**Newcastle**

**North-east England**

It was a bright Saturday morning, the sun shone through the windows, almost blinding. A refreshing change from the constant dismal rain that usually shrouded the days in mediocrity. I eagerly awaited the mail, sat at the step looking out for the postman like a dog awaits a biscuit. Then there it came, the letter I had been awaiting for the last week. As a teenager, I had always watched the game show 'Spin to Win', the host Michael Stevens became a regular sight on my television. Watching chance shows was amongst my favourite hobbies, that and playing Pokemon. I had adored that game, putting hours on end into it, each and every day, ever since the release of the first title. Anyway, Spin to Win had been cancelled towards the end of the 20th century, the reason was never made publicly clear - however there had been rumour of anonymous threats, messages such as 'You will be damned should you ever return'. Either way, it was to be aired again, live on national TV in celebration of the hosts 50th birthday. Naturally, after seeing they were looking for participants, I was one of the first to apply - and here in my hands was the envelope deciding my fate. I teared open the envelope in both excitement and in fear and scanned the enclosed letter. Several words jumped out at me...'Congratulations'...'have been accepted..'...'to appear on 9th May'. That was it. I was to play my favourite game show in just a week's time.

**Saturday 9th May 2007**

**TV Studio **

**Cardiff, South Wales**

I stood excitedly behind the doors leading to the stage, awaiting my cue from the backstage crew. I heard Michael Steven's voice from the other side of the door, his voice had barely altered in his age - still a loud, booming voice, that projected around the whole set. It was like he didn't even need a bloody microphone. I had been through hair and make-up, being made to look my best. My hair also had to be blow-dried due to the horrible weather I was faced with on my journey. Heavy rain and hailstone beated down, leaving my hair drenched and my face painful from the hail. The weather station had been wrong as per usual, they had predicted sunshine all week. Strangely enough, on the train journey from Newcastle the weather had been as delightful as ever - it was only since leaving the train station and emerging into the Cardiff air that it took a turn of the worse. Either way, none of that mattered now.

'It's time to welcome our first player today, Andrew Parker!'

I heard the applause of the audience and before I knew one of the backstage men nodded at me and I was entering the set and meeting my childhood idol. I was introduced to the audience by Stevens, still looking well and healthy even after illness that I had heard took over him on the news only a few months prior. We played for around 10 minutes, I had completed all the challenges to an excellent standard. I had remembered them from seeing it on the TV and then pretending to play the game with my siblings. I knew what was next, and this filled my body with a positive energy, leaving me buzzing throughout. Michael turned to me. "So, Andrew, you've come this far...that's a good start." The audience laughed. "But it's all to play for now, as we spin to win!" Michael turned to the camera "And we will see you lot, after the break!"

A few minutes later, we were back on air. "Okay, so Andrew here has passed all the challenges given in..well, I must say, flying colours! But now his chances of winning are left in fate's hands as we spin the wheel. You know the drill, I spin the wheel and if it lands on a green triangle, you have won the grand prize of £250,000!" The audience then cheered, as signalled by a screen in the corner of the set. "However, if it lands on a red triangle, it's goodbye to you and goodbye to all your hard-earned cash! So are you ready?" Michael turned on me and rested his hand on my shoulder. He was wearing his signature white gloves. "As ready as I'll ever be." I said in a half-happy, half-nervous tone. "Okay, let's spinnnnn to WIN!"

Michael set the wheel spinning, and the typical game show music played, the same theme used in the 90's - I assumed it was to keep the show as true to itself as possible. The audience clapped along. At this point, I zoned out, became lost in my thoughts, mainly as I was nervous and attempting to distract myself from the wheel. Then all of a sudden, it all...stopped. The music stopped, the studio lights dimmed. I snapped back to consciousness. The audience stared down intently at the ground. Everything was eerily silent around me. I looked around...Michael Stevens was gone...just, gone. I never heard him move, nor anybody move. Not a muscle. I stood in my place, as if I was affixed to the ground, unable to move. I was literally speechless, my mouth left open gaping around at how everything in life had just paused...switched off. My mind was blank, with only one thought racing around in my head, trying frantically to find an answer to this driving question...'What the fuck?'. Then a new thought entered my head. I had to get out. I took a brisk step forward before stopping instantly in a response to what had happened. The audience looked up, and stared blankly forward. They all did so in unison, like some fucked up freak show. However, something was terrifyingly different about them. Their pupils had..vanished, as if into the back of their head, leaving just a bland, white space. My heart was beating almost out of my body, as I stood deadly still. Also, their skin had turned extremely pale, a ghost-like complexion..and they just...just...remained. Still.

It was then that another thing happened. I heard sound again...it faded into a song that I didn't recognise at first however it soon became clear. It was the theme for Lavender Town on the original Pokemon game, a particularly creepy sound if I remember rightly. There was always something compelling and creepy about it. It played over the speaker system that was blasting out a cheesy 90's tune only a few minutes ago. This distracted me from the matter at hand and I took another step forward, cursing myself as I just realised what I had done. What the audience did next would have terrified me for my whole life. They took out a knife, but as if from nowhere. As if they literally made it appear out of the blue. But that wasn't all. Continuing to move in unison, they each held up their knife to their own neck. I obviously wanted to look away but I just...couldn't..it was as though something was stopping me from turning my head, forcing me to watch this terror. I saw the knife begin to penetrate their skin and I closed my eyes. As I did this I heard a sound and instinctively opened them again. The studio lights had just turned off, the room was pitch black...and the music had also stopped. All was eerily silent although I felt anothers presence, even though I had just experienced every living human except me brutally murder themselves in unison, as if they were in a trance...hypnotised. I couldn't take any more. Fuck it. I ran.

I launched myself from the stage, and I heard something chasing me. The studio lights began to flash in a fit-inducing manner. Strobing. I glanced behind me, whilst still sprinting, tripping over bodies as I did so, and saw a face. I saw no body, then again I couldn't see fuck all, but the face was enough. Looked almost human, but wasted away, red eyes. I couldn't bare it anymore, and turned back around to face front. As I did so, I lost my footing and fell over another body, this time I took a more major fall, and fell to the ground, resting on my knees, gasping for breath. I felt a hand on my shoulder. The being had hands now. Before I knew it, I found out it also had teeth. I couldn't see them but I could feel them. Sharp, shark-like motherfuckers. They sunk into my back of all places and bit down, removing a chunk of me violently. And then the being just...vanished into thin air, literally before my very eyes. The lights ceased strobing and remained on full beam, everything was silent once again however I could see now. However, I fell instantly to the ground, as there was now a gaping wound in my body. Blood was pouring, I was bleeding out. I looked around me, at the bloodshed, and merely wondered...why? What had all these innocent people, most likely family men, and me, and Michael Stevens. What had they done to deserve this? I looked around me at the horror, pints of blood were everywhere, bodies with slit throats lay around me. Which bought up yet another question, I was far far away from any seats. How the bloody hell had the bodies made it all the way here? But frankly, I didn't care all that much right now.

Then the music began again. The video game music that as a child I had never, could never, have anticipated that it would haunt me in such a way now. But it played, louder than before, and with a slightly distorted, crackled noise accompanying it.

My vision turned hazy. It was almost the end. There was only one thing left to do. I, with all the strength I had left (admittedly not much), looked up to the stage, and saw the wheel there in the distance. My vision was almost depleted now, I could barely move. The pain was so strong that I could not even feel it. I could only feel my blood level depleting. I squinted my eyes as to see the wheel and what it had landed on. The triangle it had stopped on was green. I would have won £250,000. Shit.


End file.
